January 2004

Today, we learned that our own Mikey F matched at Johns Hopkins for neurology. We, at Pat and Fran, have a hard time spelling "neurology." We are super happy for him though, as it was his first choice. In Mike's own words given at a very informal press conference today, he said "I'm psyched." That you are.

Are we worried about what pizzleNfrizzle.com could do to his professional career? Yes.

This was weekend was another nice, satisfying weekend. The big secret that I couldn’t talk about on Friday was a surprise party for Food Mike. A bunch of us met out at Mex to celebrate the occasion. It had been quite a while since we had hung out with Food Mike, Jane, Ian, and the rest of that posse, so it was good to see those guys. I actually ended up leaving a little early to go dancing with my friend Melodie at Bug Jar. It was pretty fun, but I just felt a little overdressed and old, which is never a good feeling. At least I looked cooler than the “dancin’ machine” Steven Segal look-alike. But then again, that’s not saying much. Pat and I crossed paths again later that night at the Thing’s, where we stayed up much too late.

Saturday, we did our regular bidness during the day. As promised, we did make our annual trip to Show World where we got some interesting gifts for our friend Greg’s birthday. We ended up buying him a booby-shaped coffee mug and a Little Whores on the Prairie DVD. We had a great time at the party. We ate lots of food, played a PG version of Truth or Dare (really, it was for kids ages eight and up), checked out funny websites (great fun for us nerdy folk), and played pool.

Sunday, Pat and I went to see Big Fish. We both loved it. I honestly can’t think of a movie I thought was more perfect. I wouldn’t have changed a thing about it. It was truly beautiful. Later that night, we went over to Rebecca’s for a Sex and the City marathon (thanks to inDemand). I couldn’t help but notice that the most recent Sex and the City episodes were real downers. What’s up?

*Sigh* and now it’s Monday again. We have some fun ahead of us this week. Most notable is that Ellen’s remission party is this Saturday night! Frankly, I can’t think of a better reason to celebrate! We love you, Ellen!

Frankly, I'm a little bit sick of this non-stop cold weather, but we have a fun weekend ahead of us at least. Tonight, we're going out to...a bar...but I can't tell you what's going on yet...so get off my back. Saturday night, we're celebrating my co-worker Greg's birthday at his and his lovely wife Kimmie's home. We went last year and it was super fun. Pat and I are looking forward to our annual trip to Adult World to pick out a birthday gift for Greg! He's very easy to shop for.

To backtrack, this has been a pretty fun week. Not much happened at all, which I appreciate every now and then. We did go to Tizzle Gizzle Izzle Fizzle's (what our friend Vienneau calls T.G.I. Friday's) for dinner last night with Rebecca, which was fun. As you probably know, Pat's on the Atkin's diet, and they have a pretty extensive Atkin's menu.

Well, as I am currently at work, and my company actually frowns upon paying me to update this site, I'm going to beat feet. Oh, but if you see Pat Reed and me walking down Park Ave tonight, for Pete's sake, pick us up!

A lot of people have been telling us they have been getting too much Pat and Fran and not enough Maynard on this site. So, we thought it was about time to give a little Maynardo update.

As many of you know, Maynard has been struggling with her weight for some time now; she’s a big, fine lady. Two month ago, we took her to the vet and she weighed in at a whopping 17.1 lbs. The obese vet declared Maynard obese. Since then, we have had her on the Hill Science Prescription Diet cat food. The vet wants her to lose 3-4 lbs. over the next year.

We took her to get weighed today and she weighed 16.5 lbs. Fran and I are quite proud of that chunky, little feline. She’s well on her way to being able to reach her own back and ass. Here’s a picture of our little baby at her biggest.

This weekend was a nice, low-key weekend - just what I needed. Friday night, Pat's friend Brett from high school, and Brett's girlfriend, Lenet, came to town. Pat and I (mostly Pat) made dinner, and then we headed out on the town. We went out to Blue Room and then Old Toad. It was a really quiet night, I'm assuming due to the cruddy weather we've been having. It was nice that there weren't too many people around.

Saturday, after Brett and Lenet headed back to Bingo, Lavery came over and we watched the first Lord of the Rings. I have to admit, I wasn't too interested in seeing that movie, but I'm really glad that I did. I actually like it a lot and I'm looking forward to seeing it again soon. Saturday night, we went over to Mike and Holly's for some beer drinking and fireplace enjoying.

Today, Pat and I watched On Golden Pond. I had seen it before, but it was Pat's first time. I have to say that it was even better than I remembered. I think Patty even enjoyed it a little bit. We also got take-out from Dinosaur BBQ. Now we're both full and sleepy. Thus, the unfunny nature of this blog.

Saturn has been stepping all over my ding dong lately. I have had my car for less than a year and I have already had it into the shop three times. It's about to go in for the forth visit and it's all for the stupidest shit too. Does anyone else out there have a 2003 Ion with similar problems?

Trip 1: The driver’s side front directional goes out (6000miles). (Yeah, I know asshole, it’s easy to fix, but the bulb is brand new and none of the parts stores stock them yet.)

Trip 2: The driver’s side front directional goes out (9000miles).

Trip 3: There is a recall on a part on the engine. (I can understand this one. This was a new model last year. It’s understandable that there are a few bugs and I appreciate them bringing it to my attention in a timely fashion.)

Trip 4: The driver’s side front directional goes out (11000miles).

So, being as polite as I can, I ask the Saturn service man "Dan, what are we going to do to rectify this? This is the third time this bulb has blown in 11000 miles." He replies, "I am not sure. We will have to look at your car and find out what is wrong with it." Then I ask "Since this is the third time it has happened, can you give me a couple of extra bulbs, so that the next time it happens I do not have to drive all the way out there and waste my time." Danno replies, "Absolutely not. It is against our policy to give away extra parts." Finally I say, "This time you need to do more than just change the bulb. I can’t keep coming in here every 4000 miles."

This guy acts like I’m part of some elaborate light bulb launder operation. Eat a bag of d*cks Dan! The bulbs cost $2.00!

So this is my current car situation. I still feel like I am getting no satisfaction. I will keep you posted on the progress. If they don’t make things right soon, I will be forced to use my celebrity status (achieved from this website) to ruin Saturn. That is all for now.

I don't know if you all noticed, but I was on a brief hiatus from blog writing. It wasn't by choice; I was working a lot of hours this past week and didn't feel like doing anything in my spare time.

So, after my extremely hectic week, I was torn between having a crazy, fun weekend, and having a low-key, relaxing weekend. As I'm sure you can guess, I chose the crazy, fun option.

Friday night, Chris C and his lovely lady, Amy, came over for a 40-a-thon. We didn't do too much, but we did have a fish eye picture photoshoot. We always have a great time hanging out with the 'Micata's.

Saturday night, Pat and I put our pajamas on and headed over to Rebecca's. As a series of exclusive parties, we just participated in the "pajama party" installment. Many notable things happened at this party, none which I can repeat. Oh, just kidding. It was just a lot of good clean fun. Pat's alter-ego, Silky Jenkins, even made a special appearance. Don't tell Pat, but I think Silky is super phat and fly.

Sunday, we went over to Frank and Joyce's to play a board game called Battle of the Sexes. It was a lot of fun hanging out with those two, even though I wasn't very good at the game (although Pat was disturbingly good at answering questions about girl suff).

I hope everyone had a great New Year's. Fran and I always try to keep New Year's low key. We hung out over at Mitch and Hollywood’s apartment with some friends, drank Champale, and watched Dick Clark.

Fran and I enjoyed the warm front we had last week. Saturday it hit 61°. I was about to put on my Speedo and lay out in the front yard, but instead we drove out to Skaneateles to celebrate Fran’s father’s birthday. We ate filet mignon and Fran’s father made his secret bernaise sauce. It was only one of the top three best steaks I have ever had in my life. Remember what Fran always says, "If God didn't want us to eat meat, then how come He made it so delicous?"

The rest of my extendo-weekend was spent relaxing and hanging out with friends. It’s a good thing that I enjoyed it, because I was looking at my Kojak calendar today, and we do not have another holiday until April. I find that completely unacceptable. Luckily, a new year means new vacation. I may have to dip into that soon and take my baby’s mother out to Sizzler and a night at Motel 6. We’ll just have to see.

It was tough going back to work today. I am still converting my clock from vacation time to work time. I made the mistake of staying up late on Saturday and sleeping till noon on Sunday. It must have been 3 AM before I fell asleep last night. What’s up with that shizznitty?

Congrats to Dave W. and Christine. They got engaged this past Christmas.